Everything has an expiration date,
Whether it's on a label or the tissue of an organ,
Contained in a seed even before it sprouts.
One day the sun will swallow the earth,
And even the universe will dissolve.
These thoughts are not meant to frighten,
They are certain,
Comforting in their essence.
All the elements that compose this world will become small and quiet in their final rest.
But not all endings are easy to accept.
We grieve those who vanish,
Their absence heavy in our chest,
The silence they live in their place deafening.
Grief is a strange creature.
When we lose someone,
We can simultaneously hold the pain of their loss,
And the joy of the love we feel for them.
That love is our lifeboat.
An aching heart is a heart full of love,
So much love it can't be contained.
We ache for days on end,
Weeks,
Sometimes years,
Unsure what to do with the love that keeps spilling over,
Until we learn how to pour it on new places.
Over time we learn to soften the pain.
The love,
However,
Is infinite,
As we discover those we lost are to be found wherever we go.
Every corner of this world holds the essence of our lost ones,
Awakening memories and even creating new ones where there is still a place for them.
They would have loved this,
We say.
And they do.
They do through us.
Through us they live on.
In grief we roam this earth,
Clutching our heart so it doesn't fall apart,
Asking ourselves silent questions.
Why did they have to die?
Why isn't everyone angry?
Others' joy becomes intolerable.
They died.
They died and the world keeps spinning,
But our world has stopped in its tracks.
Until we dare open our tender heart once more,
Leaving room for other questions.
Why was I so blessed to have known and loved them?
How come they made the world better and brighter?
We keep them alive with these questions and slowly we come back to life too,
For if their life had so much meaning they must have left this world better than they found it.
We know they left us better than they found us.
How did they change me?
Why is it so important to keep loving life the way I loved them?
If they kissed the world with their presence,
Then the world is a place worth living.
And they are still part of it,
Because they will forever be part of us.
